Friday, May 27, 2016

I have compiled three tips on how to prevent the
summer slide for each of your kiddos.

1. Send Home a Parent Suggestion Letter

-One thing to help prevent the summer slide is the involve parents in this process. If the parents are aware of what the summer slide is and how they can help, they may be interested in trying to help. Send home a letter describing what the summer slide is and a checklist such as the one shown below.

-Practice packets are great for the summer slide. The kids are going home for two months and they need something to keep their education at the front of their minds. Setting up a system where the students are reading for about 20 minutes each day and competing a short activity each day is ideal to keep that information fresh in their minds.

Shown below is my first grade summer practice packet. It's simple to print and assemble. There are also packets for 2nd grade and kindergarten.

Set up an email for this class only. Give this email to parents at the end of the year, requesting for students to check in if they want to keep in touch. Suggest that students email when they have finished a book, or finished their summer practice packet. Maybe have them email if they have any questions about math and writing practice.

Think of class specific email addresses, such as mstobins2016class@gmail.com, so that you can continue this through the years and keep up with each group.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

If you're teaching at a school that requires you to teach Common Core standards, you know that it may be a little bit difficult some years to fit all of the standards in and teach them to mastery. What is required of you is to teach all literature, informational, language, reading foundations, writing, and speaking & listening standards in 180 days. This can prove to be very difficult

Step 1-

Print out all of your ELA standards from the Common Core webiste.
This is where everyone needs to begin. If you're not too familiar with Common Core yet (if you've just adopted the standards), then you're going to download your grade levels Reading Literature, Reading Informational, Reading Foundational Skills, Language, Speaking & Listening, and Writing standards.

Here is a snapshot of what a few of the standards look like for 2nd grade RL.

After you have printed off your standards for each domain, you're going to start your color coding system. Read below to learn more!

What I suggest doing is using a straight edge to separate each standard so that your color coding system is as clear as it can be. Here is a picture of me using a manila folder to draw straight lines along the standards. Once these are split up clearly, you can start your color coding.

The color coding system helps you keep track of all the times you've taught a standard. If you teach your standards throughout the year instead of one standard at a time, this will help you keep track of any time you touch on the standard. You will give a yellow circle the first time you teach the standard, a blue circle the second time, and the pink circle the third time you teach the specific standard. This helps you ensure you've given multiple opportunities for the students to practice this standard AND it helps you keep track of what you've taught and what you still need to teach.

Step 2-

Here is a free and simple way to track your weekly ELA standards. Nothing fancy or techy here. I would suggest making these at the beginning of the year for a very informal pacing guide. Write the SIX domains on a piece of cardstock and plug in which standards you plan to teach in each month. This will help you be more intentional about your lesson plans. Plus, when you highlight each one of their monthly list, you are seeing what you've successfully taught and what still needs to be taught.

Here is a quick little video that walks you through making these!

Step 3-

The final step is a FREE checklist for you! There are two options for you on this freebie. You can either choose the editable version to type in and check off, or you can choose to print and write the standards in. Either way, this is a simple, fool-proof way to track which standards you've taught and which you need to still teach or revisit.

You can snag this freebie today and get started right away!
To use this you will write each standard as you teach it. I think that putting a check every time you touch on it will help you keep track of how many times you've taught that standard. There are also options for you to mark if they have mastered the standard or need more time.

As soon as you sign up, check your email and your freebies will be waiting there!

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